20.04.2019: The fourth round of the 2019 FIA Formula One World Championship means a return to a street circuit with the Azerbaijan Grand Prix April 26-28 at Baku City Circuit. The 70th For

The fourth round of the 2019 FIA Formula One World Championship means a return to a street circuit with the Azerbaijan Grand Prix April 26-28 at Baku City Circuit. The 70th Formula One season opened on a street circuit with the Australian Grand Prix in Melbourne and Rich Energy Haas F1 Team scored points via a strong sixth-place finish by driver Kevin Magnussen. But in the two races since, in Bahrain and China, Rich Energy Haas F1 Team has been held scoreless.

After leaving Australia fourth in the constructors’ standings, the American squad has fallen to sixth where it is tied with McLaren, four points behind Renault and Alfa Romeo, which are tied for fourth, and one point ahead of eighth-place Racing Point. Despite the lack of points, Magnussen and teammate Romain Grosjean have shown speed, advancing to the final round of qualifying in every event this season. The issue, however, has been carrying that speed through the race.

Bahrain and China are purpose-built Formula One facilities, both designed by Hermann Tilke, who has penned many of Formula One’s modern-day venues. And while Tilke also designed Baku City Circuit, which made its Formula One debut in 2016, its 6.003-kilometer (3.730-mile), 20-turn layout is on the streets of Azerbaijan’s capital city.

Drivers blast down two enormously long straights in a dumbbell-shaped layout that runs counterclockwise. The two main straights include a 2.2-kilometer (1.367-mile) stretch along the promenade and a 1-kilometer (.621-mile) stretch that takes drivers away from Azadliq Square. The track blends old and new amid these fast straights and slow corners. It winds through a modern, Eastern side where swank hotels and high-end shops reside, to a historic area where the streets are narrow and steep before returning to the mainstraight where a sharp left turn greets drivers at its end.

Both Grosjean and Magnussen have competed in every Formula One race held in Baku, with the highlight being Magnussen’s seventh-place drive in 2017. The duo returns to Baku intent on regaining the form they showed on the streets of Melbourne and securing the points needed to put Rich Energy Haas F1 Team back atop the midfield.

Total number of race laps: 51

Complete race distance: 306.153 kilometers (190.235 miles)

Pit lane speed limit: 80 kph (50 mph)

This 6.003-kilometer (3.730-mile), 20-turn circuit made its debut on the 2016 Formula One calendar. Mercedes driver Nico Rosberg won the inaugural race on his way to capturing the 2016 FIA Formula One World Championship.

Scuderia Ferrari driver Sebastian Vettel holds the race lap record at Baku City Circuit (1:43.441), set in 2017.

Mercedes driver Lewis Hamilton holds the qualifying lap record at Baku City Circuit (1:40.593), set in 2017 during Q3.

Pirelli is bringing the following tire compounds to Azerbaijan:

P Zero White hard – less grip, less wear (used for long-race stints) - The C2 version will be used, with a working range between 110-135 degrees Celsius (230-275 degrees Fahrenheit)

P Zero Yellow medium – more grip, medium wear (used for shorter-race stints and for initial portion of qualifying) - The C3 version will be used, with a working range between 105-135 degrees Celsius (221-275 degrees Fahrenheit)

P Zero Red soft – highest amount of grip, highest amount of wear (used for qualifying and select race situations) - The C4 version will be used, with a working range between 90-120 degrees Celsius (194-248 degrees Fahrenheit)

Two of the three available compounds must be used during the race. Teams are able to decide when they want to run which compound, adding an element of strategy to the race. A driver can also use all three sets of Pirelli tires in the race, if they so desire. (If there are wet track conditions, the Cinturato Blue full wet tire and the Cinturato Green intermediate tire will be made available.)

Pirelli provides each driver 13 sets of dry tires for the race weekend. Of those 13 sets, drivers and their teams can choose the specifications of 10 of those sets from the three compounds Pirelli selected. The remaining three sets are defined by Pirelli – two mandatory tire specifications for the race (one set of White hards and one set of Yellow mediums) and one mandatory specification for Q3 (one set of Red softs). Haas F1 Team’s drivers have selected the following amounts:

Grosjean: one set of White hards, three sets of Yellow mediums and nine sets of Red softs. Magnussen: one set of White hards, three sets of Yellow mediums and nine sets of Red softs.

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